Various

Alien Vendetta

Alien Vendetta is an all-around triumph. I've said in the past that Slayer is a better release compared to AV, yet I find myself still playing AV these days. Just oozing with creative design and built upon the solid foundation of gameplay rules (which it does). Hard to imagine this late in DOOM's life we'd see another masterpiece. And like 10sectors wad there was people's who contributed to AV who had never made any other work public. It's a testament to the hard work by project leader Anders Johnsen and his team of playtesters. My favorite picks are maps 02, 05, 06, 07, 11, 20, and 29.

Patrik Höglund

Nightwing

The 4 levels in Nightwing contain some of Patrik Höglund's best architecture in any of his levels. Using the boom engine to go all-out there are some impressive views - the castle level is a tour de force in sheer size and amount of work put in. The gameplay is not up to Patrik's usual standards as he decided to focus on design and detail. It's worth the look though - and the gameplay is still decent. A wad that went under most people's radar.

Russell Pearson

Nullspace

Nullspace is the best individual map of any release of 2001. Just a beautifully designed map with a pure architecture aestetic that is well textured from beginning to end. The void concept is pretty neat. The gameplay is challenging for most although some hard buffs will find it easy. This is also one of those maps where the design gets gradually better as you progress; meanwhile it gets more challenging. So if you can hang on it really gets good.

Ebola

Phobia

I couldn't really be bothered to play far in Phobia because of the fussy legacy engine. It didn't take me long though to realize Phobia is something I would keep around for inspiration. It's got a different feel from most wads with a temple/lava theme. Combined with the textures it really looks different then any doom level I can remember playing recently. Like ZanZan it's a good example of what legacy GL can do. Memorable.

Christopher Lutz

PHOBOS: ANOMALY REBORN

Well in the year of detail, detail, detail, Christopher Lutz definately wanted his name known. :) Insane amounts of detail made even the boom engine beg for mercy on my old Pentium 300. Not only insane detail but huge levels (sometimes too huge for me!). Sometimes detail would really increase atmosphere making rooms seem much more realistically looking/lighted. All this wrapped in a wad set with an episode 1 feel. Pushing DOOM wads to new heights.

Stphrz

Shock 'Em Down

I think shock'em down came at a time when the "e1 craze" was ending. Some people didn't like it because it was episode 1 and others said it was not very reminicient of ep 1. Still, there were quite a few people (including me) who thought it was a good release. It's got the general essence of e1 with the large/small room mix and use of monster ambushes. With the use of the boom engine for increased detail and non-ep1 elements such as the bfg and beserk I think it was a good modern update to the episode 1 feel. A pretty good sized level too.

Ed Cripps

Sincity

Sincity was one of those unexpected treats of 2001. It's got a nice aestetic based on the bread and butter combination of bricks and lava and good architecture. The custom brick texture is one of my favorites. Ed makes good use of brick pillars and lava pits. It's a good challenge too - there are quite a few ssg fights with mid-level enemies.

Richard Wiles

Slayer

Slayer was definately one of my top favorites of 2001. Just solid level design from beginning to end. The level layouts were well thought out. The gameplay was meticulously crafted. Each level has a challenge ranging from hard to very hard. The texturing and enemy placement influence from Plutonia is here - and there is no better wad to draw influence from.

Thomas van der Velden

Thomas van der Velden's Revolution!

TVR! wad was definately the most underrated wad of 2001. Hell, I didn't even hear of it until 2002. Lucky for me I read a review on Metabolist's website about this 32 level wad. It's amazing what the quality of these levels are when you consider it was a one man project. It's got a simple design architecture/detailing feel - people looking for todays standards of detail would be disappointed. Nothing amazing, but it works. The levels are spaciously designed and the difficulty is medium to easy for most doom veterans. It makes these levels ideal for recording demos.

Fredrik

Vrack2b

When we talk about the ever increasing size and detail of wads no statement would be complete without mentioning Vrack 2. This monstrosity is one large mutha. The overall size is something in itself, and it helps add to the feeling that your actually on a space station. Challenge? Definately, for all you bloodthirsty players out there. I wasn't really impressed by Vrack 1 but Vrack 2 now has me looking forward to Vrack 3.